For a second straight year, Forge FC have opened their Canadian Premier League season with consecutive wins, as they defeated Pacific 2-0 at Starlight Stadium on Saturday.
After lifting the CPL Shield as regular season champions in 2024, it's a strong sign of intent from Forge, who took care of business against a Pacific team who themselves were looking to make it two wins from two after also winning on opening day.
Returning to this game, Forge came out strongly from the first minute, as they looked to build off their 1-0 win vs. Cavalry last weekend.
Because of that, Brian Wright had a glorious chance to open the scoring for Forge in the 4th minute, as Nana Ampomah found him with a perfect ball into the box, but Wright sent his shot well over the goal from close range.
Soon after, Mo Babouli had a great chance in the 21st minute, as Tristan Borges found him with a nice ball into the box, but he sliced his half-volley wide of the goal from the edge of the six-yard box. Then, Ampomah almost found a goal on an attempt of his own, as he sent a cross that nearly snuck in the near post, forcing a good save out of Pacific's Max Anchor.
Attempting to punish Forge for their earlier misses, Pacific nearly capitalized on one of their mistakes in the 31st minute. After picking off a sloppy pass from Khadim Kane in Forge's half, Marco Bustos decided to attempt a chip on Jassem Koleilat, but his shot would sail harmlessly over Forge's goal.
Eventually, Forge's pressure would result in an opening goal, however, and it came at a perfect time for them. After a creative set-piece routine at the edge of the box, the ball was headed into the path of Khadim Kane by Dan Nimick, and Kane did the rest from there, slotting home his first professional goal with a cool finish to make it 1-0.
Doing well to pick up where they left off in the first half, Forge almost made it 2-0 in the 60th minute. After a nice run by Ampomah, he found Kyle Bekker at the edge of the box, and Bekker fired a thunderous shot that clattered onto the crossbar, before Anchor swatted the subsequent rebound out for a corner.
Forge would make the most of that resulting set-piece, however - there, Borges found Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson at the near post with a perfect ball, and Achinioti-Jönsson did the rest, heading the ball into the top corner of the goal to make it 2-0.
To Pacific's credit, they made things interesting late - a late flurry of set-pieces nearly yielded a goal, with Juan Quintana coming closest on a header in the last moments of the game, but Forge would hold on from there to get the victory.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Pacific FC: Anchor; Chung, Quintana, Machado, Greco-Taylor; Young (Keshavarz 74′), de Pauli (Ndom 74′); Bustos, Zanatta (Daniels 61′), Kratt (Toualy 74′); Heard
Forge FC: Koleilat; Kane (Rama 80′), Nimick; Achinioti-Jönsson, Jevremović; Hojabrpour, Bekker (Lipovschek 90′); Ampomah (Massunda 90′), Borges (Jensen (68′), Babouli; Wright (Filion 68′)
Goals
44′ — Khadim Kane (Forge FC)
60′ — Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge FC)
Discipline
26′ — Yellow: Dario Zanatta (Pacific FC)
27′ — Yellow: Daniel de Pauli (Pacific FC)
75′ — Yellow: Juan Quintana (Pacific FC)
75′ — Yellow: Marko Jevremović (Forge FC)
75′ — Yellow: Rezart Rama (Forge FC)
